Convenience
by Opalecent
Summary: Yup, another marriage law fic. Sue me. Obviously AU, my own fun/liberties with the character's lives. A marriage law enacted to trap muggleborns finds Hermione in holy matrimony with a member of the Order. Is he her knight in shining armor or a wolf in tattered teacher's robes?
1. Chapter 1

*Author's Note* YES I KNOW, OKAY. I'm supposed to be working on "What's Love Got To Do With It", but this hit me in the middle of the night and I literally can't get it out of my head. I can't move on until I do. It's interrupting my homework even and I find myself drifting back to the story racing through my mind. So, don't hex me, please.

*Disclaimer* not mine yada yada. All characters belong to the great J.K. I just like making them do naughty things she didn't.

* * *

The voices around the table had become interchangeable. Albus and Minerva sat at the head, around them the Order voicing their opinions, anger, fear, and frustrations. Fred and George sat on the kitchen counters, the implications being discussed weighing heavily on them.

"She's a child-"

"They can't do this-"

"She'll be of age in a month Molly."

Molly fussed about the table, whispering to herself, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Sirius hadn't stopped pacing, obscenities directed at the ministry the only thing to come from him in the last hour.

The room had finally fallen silent. No decisions had been made; no consensus come to. The tension was palpable. Arthur cleared his throat, taking a long sip from his tea.

"Well then, what shall we do about this?"

"Why not ask the girl? It is her life after all." Moody's response was unexpected. His voice held what could almost be described as sympathy. There were "hmphs" of agreement and Moody nodded to Tonks. With a bow of her head, she left the kitchen, headed for the stairs and the children waiting anxiously upstairs.

Silent at the table, as he had been all night, Remus Lupin stared at the copy of the Daily Prophet, to be released the following day.

_Muggle-born Breeding Law Effective Immediately_

* * *

3 hours. That's how long it had been since Kingsley and Arthur had arrived, a flurry of robes and shouts for the Order to hold an emergency meeting. Snape hadn't been far behind, his face as unreadable as ever.

Fleur had been placed at the bottom of the stairs. A guard to prevent the 4 underage wizards and witches from attempting to eavesdrop. Silencing charms deafened the room, but occasionally a raised voice broke through, muffled though it was. Often it sounded to be from Sirius. The 4 would-be members had begun the meeting sitting at the top of the stairs, straining to hear any piece of information. As the minutes slipped by, they one by one made their way to Hermione and Ginny's room. It was the cleanest after all.

Harry and Ron passed the time playing Wizard's Chess. Ginny had her nose in a Quidditch Weekly. Hermione was getting a start on her reading for the new term, set to begin in 3 days' time. They'd given up guessing as to what the Order was arguing about and sat in uncomfortable silence. There was a soft knock at the door before Tonks peeked her head in. Her hair shifted from ashy grey to black. Her tumultuous emotions were obviously keeping her from holding one appearance steady for long.

"Hermione? The Order needs a word with you." Harry and Ron made to stand to join her but Tonks held up her hand.

"Just Hermione for the moment guys."

_This isn't good… _Hermione stood, absentmindedly clutching her copy of _Confronting the Faceless: An Advanced Guide to Transfigurations_ to her chest. She silently followed the metamorphagus down the stairs, her heart pounding faster as they passed Fleur with her sad smile.

They entered the kitchen, the Order looking to her simultaneously. She squeezed the book tighter.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Remus stood, his seat at the end of the table offering her the best view of the entire order. She smiled gratefully, noticing the tight expression across his face. He held a parchment in his hands, the cover folded inward. From the back, she could see it was a Daily Prophet. She sat, expecting someone to speak. For what felt like an eternity, they remained silent.

"Alright, let's get on with it then. Give it to her." Moody was gruff as always, she thought. Remus placed the Prophet in front of her, his hands shaking slightly. Sirius finally stopped pacing, his eyes fixed on the young witch as she read the next days heading.

"Muggle-born breeding-" She couldn't finish. The words flashed across the page.

_17 years of age- interbreeding diluting magical blood- marriage to half or pureblood- 2 years to conceive- Azkaban-_

The Order waited, allowing her to absorb the information before her. She was an intelligent girl. It wouldn't take her long to deduce the implications.

"I have to get married." Her voice was flat. They were correct. She had the choice to either marry a member of the Order, be married off to a death eater, or be sent to Azkaban.

"Yes. This is an obvious attempt to get their hands on you. They hope to marry you to a death eater and use you against the Order, and Harry." Kingsley's voice was soft, sympathy laced his words.

"Who? Harry and Ron won't be 17 in time…" her voice trailed, thinking of Ron. Behind Kingsley, Fred and George shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll do it." Their voices were in unison as always. Both boys' faces paled as they spoke. They cared for Hermione like a sister and she felt tears sting her eyes at the act of kindness.

"Thank you, both of you. But no." Molly and Arthur began to protest and she stood, holding her hand up to stop them.

"I will not have Fred or George, or Bill for that matter," she sent a pointed glare at Molly, "throw away their lives to protect me. They all have significant others. Charlie and Percy are also not options. Charlie cannot be located and here in time, and I'm sorry but I'd end up hexing Percy beyond recognition." Behind her, Sirius chuckled. If any of them thought Hermione would just lay down and accept what they decided for her, they were mistaken.

Moody scratched names off a parchment as she spoke. He grumbled to himself as he continued to write and subsequently scratch.

"None of the Weasley boys, Potter-no, Severus-ha" _scratch, scratch, scratch, _"Sirius is still a wanted man… hmm, that only leaves. Well…"

* * *

Remus listened silently from the back of the room where he'd moved after handing Hermione the copy of the Prophet. He admired her resolve not to "ruin anyone else's life", but felt the girl was foolish not to take up one of the twins' offer. He listened to Moody make his way down the list, dread, and bile rising in him.

"Lupin. You're not romantically entangled with a witch." Moody's magical eye whirled about the room, settling momentarily on Tonks behind him who perked at the mention of Remus' surname, before turning back to Remus. McGonagall bristled, but Albus, who had remained his silent statuesque self, smiled slightly.

"That may be acceptable. Hagrid will be headed out to work with the giants again, I will need a Care of Magical Creatures professor. You could fill the position and maintain an appearance of matrimony with Miss Granger should the ministry come investigating. She would be able to continue her studies virtually unimpeded, and when the war is over, we can work to repeal the law." The old wizard was standing now, thoughtfully stroking his long beard.

Remus watched as Hermione slowly turned to meet his eyes. Her face paled, her stoic resolve finally crumbling. He imagined her face mirrored his own and in a flash, she was gone, running from the room to the nearest washroom, her hand over her mouth as she held back the vomit. Instinctively he followed behind her, whether to comfort her or join her in emptying his stomach, he didn't know.


	2. Chapter 2

The washroom door slammed heavily behind Hermione, bouncing off the old frame to swing back in behind her. She knelt before the toilet just in time as the contents of her stomach forced their way up. She tried to hold her hair from her face and fleetingly noticed a second set of hands wrapped around the mess. Her stomach finally stopped lurching and she sat back on her heels, blinking away the tears that always come with vomiting.

The hands slipped from her hair and a glass floated next to her head. She quickly became more aware of the second person in the small washroom with her. Lupin had followed her in, kindly conjuring water for her and holding her hair as her reality crashed in around her. He had managed to close the door behind them, and she could feel the tingle of the silencing charms around them.

_He's quick with his spells alright. _She took a sip from the glass, swishing the water in her mouth to rinse the foul taste before spitting into the sink gracelessly. Lupin sat back against the door, twirling his wand between long fingers. His legs were scrunched up to his chest, allowing her as much room as possible in the tight space.

Hermione shifted her back now to the far wall beside the toilet. She stared at the man before her, neither speaking. He had silver lines across his face and neck, the everlasting marks of his affliction. More recent pink welts rose from under the collar of his brown button-down, ending just below his adam's apple. His sandy brown hair was slightly longer than necessary, adding to his ransacked appearance. It fell in his face, often resulting in a sigh as he ran his fingers through it to push it back. She'd wondered before if he even knew he was doing it or if it had become an unconscious habit. His eyes were green, flecked with gold that would shift with the cycles of the moon. Crow's feet edged them, and he had deep lines between his brows from furrowing them. Another unconscious habit, particularly when he was reading, she'd noted.

He wasn't an unattractive man, rather the opposite. He had a mysterious and dangerous air to him that she knew came from his lycanthropy. He was wickedly intelligent, and while lean, she knew from the incident in the Department of Mysteries, extremely strong. But aside from harboring a silent crush on the pensive professor in her third year, she had never thought of him as a _man_. A member of the Order to respected. Not someone to marry. _Not someone to_-

"Hermione?" His gentle voice broke through her wandering thoughts. Her brown eyes met his and she felt her face flush. Professor R. J. Lupin and sex should never be thought of at the same time.

"I'm sorry Professor. My reaction was rather childish, and I hope you don't take offense. It was involuntary, and not regarding the thought of marrying you. I just…" she sighed, "am not ready to be married." He seemed to regard her for a moment, before laying his wand on the floor between his legs and sliding forward to take her hands in his.

"My dear, I won't say I understand. I can't begin to, beyond also feeling decidedly uninterested in marriage at present. I do wish, for your own sanity and reputation, you would consider one of the Weasley boys' offers." While kind, his voice had taken on an authoritative tone, one she recognized from the classroom. She shook her head, her curls dancing about her face.

"I will not be the force that end's what could be wonderful loving relationships for both of them. If I have to do this, it will be with someone who's life I won't be entirely destroying." Remus winced at those words. Hermione's eyes widened and she pulled her hands back from his, one raising to cover her mouth.

"Professor, Moody wasn't correct about you being, entangled. Aren't you and Tonks-" Remus' eyebrows raised at the mention of Tonks. Their relationship, or lack thereof, hadn't been made public in any sense. While he knew the Auror had made it known her feelings toward him, she had respectfully kept their dalliances to herself.

"How did you know about Nymphadora?" he didn't want to come across accusatory, but he was curious. Hermione appeared a little guilty and a flush crept across her face again.

"I heard you, in the library a week ago. It was late, I couldn't sleep and went to find something to read. She was," the flush had reached her ears now, "trying to coax you to bed. I left rather than interrupt you." He was impressed. He'd known someone was in the hall that night. He could hear the light footfall. But that the girl had kept what she'd heard to herself warmed his heart. Not one to gossip, she left his private life private.

"I will be perfectly honest with you Hermione. Nymphadora and I are not an item. Nor were we ever to be. It is a physical relationship. Two people fulfilling a need. Nothing more, and one I am happy to end if it means keeping you safe. I do not want you to concern yourself with what this would do to my life, but to think thoroughly about what it will do to _yours_. I am nearly 20 years your elder, and a werewolf. Even if we manage to win the war and repeal this wretched law before the 2 years are up, the damage to your reputation may be irreparable."

Her stomach flipped unexpectedly at the thought of her quiet professor _fulfilling a need_ as he put it, without an emotional attachment.

"Would we have to…" she swallowed audibly, "Would we have to have sex?" She lifted her eyes to meet his, panic swirling in the brown orbs. Remus felt a similar panic but stamped it down, trying to be a calming and reassuring force.

"I don't know for sure. I don't believe so. Nowhere in the article released, or the information Kingsley and Arthur found states as such. There is no magical binding to ensure copulation, just that a child must be conceived by the second year. I hope; I believe we can fix this and annul the marriage before then. If not, it's a proverbial bridge to be crossed then." He watched as she chewed her bottom lip, cataloging the information in her mind. Suddenly she shifted, sliding across the floor to sit beside him, her back now against the door as his. Shoulder to shoulder now she sighed, letting her head fall back against the door.

"I'm not concerned about my reputation Professor. I'm a muggle-born in a magical world. I will always be out of place. I hope when this war is over to change those beliefs, but to do so I must be here. I must finish my education. I must fight alongside Harry. I will not be used as a pawn to coerce him or tormented by death eaters for what minimal secrets I may hold." Her eyes were closed now, her head sliding softly onto his shoulder.

"I will do whatever in my power to ensure you have every opportunity to make those changes Hermione." He made to lift himself from the floor but the girl next to him stiffened.

"Professor?" she hadn't opened her eyes, her voice coming soft and tired.

"Yes, my dear?"

"Can we stay here a moment longer? I'm not ready to talk to anyone." Remus settled back against the door, his body protesting but agreeing, nonetheless.

"We can do that. But Hermione, perhaps you should get comfortable with calling me Remus."

"Yes, Remus."

* * *

Molly, Arthur, Kingsley, Sirius, and McGonagall were the only members of the Order still awake when the bathroom door opened. Remus exited, a sleeping Hermione cradled in his arms. He shushed slightly and shook his head as Molly moved to intercept them.

"Molly she's exhausted. I'm going to put her to bed and will be back down in a moment." He carried her up the stairs swiftly. Ginny was asleep in their shared room, a soft snore coming from her bed. Remus laid Hermione in her own, slipping her shoes from her feet and draping a blanket over her.

Back downstairs, the five Order members waited expectedly. Remus entered the kitchen and wandlessly summoned a bottle of firewhiskey. He contemplated a glass for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and taking a drink from the bottle. Their eyes burned into him and he slumped forward onto the table.

"It appears we will be getting married."


End file.
